I have heard tale more than once before about how rude Anthony Daniels is towards his fans, but that wasn't my experience. In fact, not only was he genial, he seemed genuinely interested to hear me talk about my first time seeing STAR WARS as a child. And, yes, I know many people try to equate C-3PO as the original trilogy's "Jar Jar," but I always liked the character, and especially as a child he was my favorite.

Daniels was not only friendly to me, but when the line to see him was capped off, he made a point to go to the end of the line to briefly greet the fans.

I am not saying the guy is a saint -- I did only meet with him for mere moments -- but, I wonder how much of the bad word-of-mouth is either taken out of context, or exaggerated? I know our own JB has his "Bad Byrne Stories" and yet there are many other stories that contradict those other stories. So, I wonder if it sometimes might be fans glomming onto some specific celebrity and holding him or her up as an example of the bad kind, basing it off an unfavorable occurrence, or two, and forever demonizing that celebrity?

What brought this matter up is that I was watching a video on YouTube about co-stars that didn't get along in real life. Supposedly, Daniels and Kenny Baker (R2-D2) were not too chummy with each other. The video went on to stress that Daniels did not get along with other actors and crew members, nor fans.

For the record, I also met Kenny Baker, years before Daniels, and he was very polite to me, as well. Peter Mayhew and Lou Ferigno were the closest I have come to a celebrities who weren't particularly warm, but even then they weren't jerks to me, either.

But, to keep this more STAR WARS related, and not focused on "mean" celebrities as a general thing, what are the stories about Daniels on the set of the STAR WARS films that make him out to be such a bad guy? I confess, I wasn't aware of such stories before.

And if you have any positive tales to share of meeting Daniels, how about sharing those here?

I never heard any of this either - the character has been beloved from the very beginning. C3PO appeals to kids because he is a shiny robot, and adults like the comedy of a robot having a measure of British anxiety.

The Jar Jar thing was started by people who were trying to prop up the prequels by drawing (erroneous) comparisons to the original trilogy. They will often cite Luke's line about power converters as equivalent to Anakin spending 2/3rds of the prequels whining.

When I first started visiting AOL chatrooms there was one guy who took every opportunity to take potshots at me. At first, I ignored him, but soon other posters were asking him what his problem was, and it was becoming quite disruptive. Finally, I asked him what his problem was.

"You were rude to me and my girlfriend!"

I said I found that hard to believe -- there's no "get" in being rude to fans -- but said if he would detail what happened, I would apologize if I felt he was correct in his complaint.

"You refused to sign our books!"

There are very specific circumstances under which I decline to sign books. Like, if I didn't work on them! Or if the show has closed for the day, or if I'm on a break. Or I'm in the men's room!! So I pushed for a few more details.

As he slowly dripped them out, I found I actually remembered the moment. I had been talking to Richard Pini at the ELFQUEST booth before the show opened, and this guy, with girlfriend in tow, literally stepped between us, asking me to sign some books. I told him I would be at my table all day, and would be happy to sign once the show opened. (I'll note here, that when he asked me to sign his books there was a turning of heads around us. Is he signing now? That was a mistake I made early in my convention years. Sign "just one" for somebody, and a swarm appears.) He pushed. I declined again. Richard watched with a bemused look on his face. Finally the guy stormed off with a loud "F**k you!"

The only story I've read that might be misconstrued as being rude on Daniel's part, was Alan Trudyk's humorous recounting about meeting him before the ROGUE ONE premiere in Hollywood...

If I recall the story correctly, Anthony Daniels conversed with Trudyk about K-2SO's performance as motion capture versus C-3PO as an actual suit. The chat ended with the intent to talk about it again later.

After the movie, Trudyk said that Daniels walked up to him, politely said "F**k you" and then walked away.

Hardly a rude fan experience, since it was a bit of rival humor between professionals, but it can be twisted by those with an axe to grind into a possible bad one.

Years ago at a convention a security guard mistakenly opened one of the doors to the public early...allowing about a dozen people including myself into the main show floor. I made my way over to the booth where Anthony Daniels was just getting situated. For about 15 minutes there was nobody else there but him and me...not even any convention volunteers to help at his booth..

He was one of the most polite and friendly people I've ever met. He spent most of the time asking me questions rather than vice versa. One of the best convention experiences I ever had.

Daniels and Baker did not get on at all. The verbal confirmation of this comes from Baker, and could be seen during a TV programme where the host talks to cast members to do a reunion.

Baker talks a bit about Daniels not treating him very well on set, wondering if it was a class thing. He even goes so far as to say that he would not appear at the reunion if Daniels was going to be there.

One side of the story with no appearance from Daniels to be able to put his side of things

It's all about perception at times. A wrestler once wrote a column about fan interactions. He said how one wrestler, Hulk Hogan, had signed loads of autographs at an airport - but eventually had to decline in order to make the boarding gate, leading to some disgruntled fans.

So the fans who got autographs went home happy, but the fans who didn't get them no doubt went home with a "bad Hogan" story.

It costs nothing to be cordial. And respectful. And to appreciate the fact a person (comic writer, actor, etc) is signing all day. I got three signatures at the London/Film Comic Con last weekend. I was honoured to meet them. I thanked them for their time. I chatted very briefly, but am always conscious that there are people behind me also wanting an interaction.

One of them was ex-WWF wrestler Ax, from the tag team Demolition. I arrived at his table around midday - but his "steward" told me he'd be back at 1.30pm. So I went to other stalls/areas. I did see Ax near the catering area and walking about, but it would never have dawned on me to approach him, talk to him or attempt a signature there and then. It does not cost a thing to respect boundaries.

He was paid for his job and he did it. He owes no one anything more... CERTAINLY not the fans. No actor or creator owes fans ANYTHING MORE than the best possible product/performance possible in their role.(unless they're contracted for public meet-and-greets...)

If he doesn't get along with his associates... well, it's hardly the first time in artistic history. It's regrettable, but again... usually the end product is the MOST IMPORTANT aspect of the association.

I figure that a patron who DEMANDS to be treated as a VIP - and then only being treated politely and pleasantly, as every other patron is - is where all these Big Bad Daniels / Big Bad Byrne / etc. stories come from. Some fan who wants to be entitled and then isn't gets pissed that they weren't worshipped.

I have to imagine, that if you meet 1500 people a weekend, all basically giving you the same story, eventually somebody I going to push a button and create a bad experience. That's just the numbers of it.Plus, everybody, and I mean everybody, has a bad day.

Reading Kenny Baker's criticisms of Daniels, a lot of them seemed to be that he didn't like to socialize with the rest of the cast. Perhaps Daniels is just an introvert, and other people are taking it personally.

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